﻿THE LITTLE ERRAND-BOY. 



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end to end of the house "Tommy, where are you!" After a 

 little while his round face would bob through the doorway, with 

 " Wasn't it you a yelling arter me ?" 



No fawning menial ! no, not he ! On the contrary, he was an 

 embodied "declaration of independence." You could see "free 

 and equal," and " certain inalienable rights," looking out at his 

 eyes. He could see no reason why he should n't talk, laugh, sneeze, 

 as loud as any other mortal ! If other people lounged upon the 

 sofa, why should not he ? A dozen times a day he had to be 

 reproved for some such misdemeanor ; when he would look up in 

 rny face with the most perfect amazement, and exclaim "I 

 thought 't was made to lay on ! I saw you on it t'other arter- 

 noon ! " No method of reasoning could make him understand our 

 relative position. 



Cleaning knives was one of his duties ; but they often run about 

 all corners of the house and yard, in the process. His favorite 

 position was the gate-post; there he' would sit, rubbing and singing, 

 and taking an observation up and down the road at the same time. 

 Once, when, out of all patience at his remissness, I said "Tom- 

 my, it is more trouble to get you to scour the knives than it is to do 

 it myself," he looked up with the most imperturbable gravity, 

 answering -" Why don't you do it, then ? ' He had no intention 

 of impertinence ! He knew not that his words could be so con- 

 strued. With him, it was simply a question asking a reply. 



Always good-natured, one could not have the heart to scold him ; 

 and if you did, ten to one whether he would realize what you was 

 aiming at. There was a happy unconsciousness of wrong about 

 him, and, at heart, he was nearer right than most of us, for he 

 always looked you fair in the face, and always told the ivhole truth 

 with downright simplicity. If guilty of any mischief, his frank 

 " I done it," half excused his misdemeanor. 



One trait of the true Yankee he had in perfection, and that was 

 curiosity. Every box cover must rise and be looked under ; the 

 very doors were swung back and forth for him to discover where 

 the creak was put in. But above and beyond all, men and women 

 were what he studied. Not alone their countenances, but their 

 dress. He knew the color of the frock and shawl, and whether the 



